After some pleasantries, everyone sat down. Four young waitresses, each pushing a food cart for a guest, serve up brightly coloured, delicate and fragrant soups.

The "Young Owner" of the Grumman Group stood up and raised his glass and said, "Come, everyone, for the most precious spirit of freedom of the Free Federation, and for the great army defending freedom, cheers!" ”

Major Brooks, Weiss, and Vice President Fat all raised their glasses.

Edwig put down his glass, picked up his knife and fork, and said to Major Brooks as he cut the lamb chops on his plate, "I heard...... Is the Major investigating the attack on President Leeboyd's family by armed men? ”

The Major looked up at the waitress standing behind Edwig, and probably saw that her eyes were unwavering and her complexion had not changed at all, so he was relieved, "You are very well informed. ”

Edwig explained unhurriedly: "I had been in the North for a while, and I had a few conversations with Colonel Mautten, the Commonwealth Foreign Attaché, and I had the privilege of meeting with the officers of the Military Intelligence Department stationed in the North, who told me that this outrageous thing had happened to the Commonwealth. In fact, I have visited the North many times over the years to negotiate business and trade, and have established good personal relations with locals and foreigners with whom I often interact, and through these channels I have stumbled upon some suspicious information. ”

The major stopped his movements for the time being, and said solemnly: "According to the Federal Constitution, every citizen of the Federation has the obligation to keep state secrets, and at the same time, if it is found that the interests of the Federation have been or may be infringed upon, it is obliged to report to the departments of national defense, public security, and intelligence in a timely manner. ”

Edwig laughed meaningfully, "Of course! ”

Without waiting for the other party to say anything, the major wasted no time in saying, "We can talk about this separately after dinner." ”

Edwig replied, "No problem." ”

"Actually, I've always wanted to go around the Kingdom of Wessex and see how far their military technology has developed. Although our intelligence station has regular reports, their way of expressing them is always so old-fashioned and boring, and many things can only be accurately and appropriately understood if you see them with your own eyes. The major sighed.

"Do you want to hear what I think?" Edwig Road.

For such a topic, the major did not deliberately care about the identity of the people present, but put on a posture of "listening attentively".

"In many people's minds, the Kingdom of Wessex is sparsely populated and economically backward, militarily relying mainly on a harsh geography and a system of all-soldier mobilization to defend against potential external threats. Indeed, most of the northern country is perennially frozen, vegetation is difficult to survive, and in these areas the inhabitants have only two ways of life: either they live a primitive life of hunting and fishing, or they are employed by logging and mining enterprises, and the economic and social level is even inferior to that of our federal state of Lorraine. However, those who have actually traveled to the kingdom of Wessex will have a very different impression of it. In fact, most of its inhabitants live in several basins with relatively temperate climates, where vegetation is abundant, livestock is well developed, and food, fur and even industrial goods are completely self-sufficient. The special geographical environment has created a special culture and beliefs, which makes the country difficult to conquer by foreign peoples, and has also created a fierce people's customs, and the Essex army has always been known for its hard-working and tenacious people. Even when their weapons and equipment are far inferior to their opponents, they are able to use excellent tactics and strong will to contend with the enemy. Imagine if their military industry was on par with the strongest countries, or even ahead in some respects. ”

Major Brooks followed his train of thought and speculated, "If the same weapons were used, neither the Federation's regular combat corps nor the Norman Army's Guards would be a match for the Wessex Standing Corps. ”

Edwig snapped his fingers: "Right! ”

The major frowned and said, "Could it be ...... The armament level of the Wessex Kingdom has really caught up with the Free Federation, and it is not even much different from the Norman Empire? However, the size of their flying fleet is less than half of ours, and the caliber of the guns of the main battleships is a notch smaller than ours, is there a mistake in these technical data? ”

Edwig shook his head and said, "These numbers should be correct. If the flying fleet is used as the only measure of national defense power, then there is no doubt that the Kingdom of Wessex is still completely behind the Free Commonwealth and the Norman Empire, but this assumption is not correct. In ways that are easily overlooked, the northern country has achieved more than one could have imagined. For example, our Grumman M3.2 series is a simple and rational construction, suitable for mass production, and the production and retention of a very large number of rifles, while the Norman K3 series is superior in workmanship, superior performance, and can exert great lethality in the hands of well-trained soldiers. Only the Wessex S3.5 rifle is seen as a mediocre pursuit of range and power. Indeed, this standard rifle of the Wessex army is large, heavy, and powerful, and can be used as a machine gun with a little modification. If it is distributed to our soldiers, it will definitely be a flood of bad reviews, and the reputation may not even be as good as the 'burning stick'. However, they became quite a formidable weapon in the hands of the Wessex soldiers, even in long-range firefights, they could penetrate cover built with arm-thick tree trunks, or easily destroy enemy vehicles within range, and worse, the Wessex soldiers were not inferior to the Norman soldiers, they were very good at attacking and repelling at the first hit, and they marched faster on foot and on horseback than we thought. ”

Speaking of this, the "young owner" of the Grumman Group paused for a moment, put the cut tender meat into his mouth, and "eliminated" them in a delicate and slow manner, and then continued: "The machine guns that we and the Norman Empire have allocated to grassroots combat units are generally larger in caliber than rifles, but the Kingdom of Wessex chose the same caliber as rifles and used the same model of ammunition as rifles, the biggest advantage of this is that it reduces the burden on the baggage department and greatly facilitates the use of soldiers. Therefore, when engaging in encounters and positional battles, the Wessex army not only does not suffer, but they may also have a certain firepower advantage when the artillery is evenly matched. ”

Major Brooks had been listening, but he clearly disagreed with Edwig's arguments. When the other party's statement came to an end, he said impatiently: "I'm sorry, although I have never served as a staff officer, and the total time I spent in the army combat unit is less than a year and a half, but I have carefully studied all the battles and battles in the past two centuries, especially in several wars in the past fifty years, and I can easily understand many details of the battles." Modern warfare is no longer the mode of relying on ground operations to decide victory or defeat, whoever has superior air power will have the superiority in firepower, and will be able to gain the initiative in the war, and even dominate the course of the war, and the Kingdom of Wessex is the weakest in this regard. Even if they do make great strides in strengthening the armament of their army units, it only means that their defense capability has been improved, and from the characteristics of the defense forces, they do not have independent offensive capabilities, and only if they join forces with the Union Army or the Norman Army, it is possible to pose a strategic threat to another power. ”

"That's right, that's pretty much what everyone thinks, almost everyone!" Edwig responded.

The Major spread his hands: "This is normal logic, and it is also correct logic. ”

Edwig raised his glass to the officer of the Military Intelligence Department and said meaningfully, "Logic does not necessarily represent truth, my dear Major Brooks. I'm sure you have a deep understanding of this. ”

The major was speechless.

"Do you mean...... The flying fleet of the Kingdom of Wessex is not as weak as it seems? Weiss swiped his presence at the right time.

Edwig didn't answer immediately, but raised his glass to Weiss, "Brother Dragon, we haven't seen each other for nine years and seven months, and you look a lot like your brother now, huh...... The facial features and figure are very similar, and the temperament is also similar. ”

This tone feels metaphorical. Weiss asked, "Were you friends before?" ”

"More than friends!" Edwig's answer was a reverie.

Weiss boldly asked, "Have you seen him in recent years?" ”

To this question, Edwig gave Major Brooks a meaningful glance before replying, "This is only a matter of solitude." ”

Major Brooks didn't say anything, as if he hadn't heard the question and answer between the two men.

Edwig continued to say to Weiss: "By the way, you just mentioned that the flying fleet of the Kingdom of Wessex, in my opinion, their warships do not have any technical advantages except for being extremely cold-resistant, but this only characteristic, in some specific circumstances, may be the key to their victory over the strong. In this regard, I have submitted a brief analysis to the Federal Military-Technical Committee, which I hope will be of assistance to the Federal Army. ”

Weiss nodded: "I really envy you, it should be a hard and interesting thing to be able to go to various countries, appreciate their customs and customs, and observe their development trends!" ”

Edwig laughed, "You're right, it's a hard but fun job. Yu Gong, I, a civilian, am satisfied to be able to make so many contributions to the Federation. Privately, I maintain a good relationship with the military, which is very helpful for the development of the Grumman Group. ”

Brooks raised his glass, "I've heard so much about you, I'm getting more and more interested in the news you've brought back from the North, and besides, I've just had a novel idea—maybe it's just my whims: the Kingdom of Wessex in the North, once regarded as a place of tranquility, has now become the place where the forces are most violent, and our existing intelligence facilities and intelligence personnel are no longer able to cope with the situation, so the Military Intelligence Department is in a hurry to establish a new intelligence station there." ”

Edwig raised his glass in response: "I'm just a businessman, it's my unshirkable duty to serve my country, I do whatever the military intelligence wants me to do, and as for why I do it, that's not something I need to worry about, and it's not something I can worry about."